29-year-old man faces murder charge in death of mother in Urbana

A man is accused of killing his mother, whose body was found shortly after noon Friday at her Lionel Drive home in Urbana.

The victim was identified as Pamela K. Combs, 66, by Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell.

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Her son, 29-year-old Robert James “Jamie” Stevenson was arrested by Urbana police and later booked into the Tri-County Jail on suspicion of murder.

Police responded to the house on a welfare check of a resident there. That’s when they found Combs deceased, Lingrell stated in a release issued late Friday night.

Stevenson, who lived with his mother, was home when police arrived.

He will be held on a $500,000 bond pending his initial court appearance Monday in Champaign County Municipal Court, Lingrell said.

Additional charges may be filed in the case, he said.

Combs’ body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in Dayton, where a forensic autopsy will be completed this weekend, police said.

Lingrell said no further information would be released anytime soon.

"Because of the serious nature of this crime, and while we await the results of the autopsy, police will not be addressing how our victim was killed, what the motive may have been, what physical evidence we've collected, not elaborate on what we've learned from people that we've spoken with in relation to this homicide."

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